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UP -77 -13 ATTACHMENT 2 July 6, 2016 The Board of Directors of the Pleasanton Masonic Center is appealing the decision made by the Planning Commission on June 22, 2016 for the following reasons: 1) After granting the Millers two last - minute postponements, the Planning Commission denied the Masons a postponement and held the public hearing on a date that the president of the Hall Association (the governing body) was out of the country, and a date when most other Lodge members were involved in a Masonic activity at the Lodge and unable to attend. Forcing this date made it impossible for the Masons to adequately present their case before the Commission 2) The Commission seems to have acted on information which is untrue, or at least which has been greatly exaggerated. A significant example of this is the Millers repeated representation that the Masons continually have parties consisting of between 50 and 600, often fueled by alcohol. This is simply not true. 3) During a Planning Commission meeting the Commissioners asked for information from staff regarding actions by the Masons, which staff was not able to provide. The Masons would like to present that information and answer the Commission's questions 4) The commission violated its own mandate to not cause financial harm to any entity by imposing conditions which would create a financial burden. By restricting the hours of use, the Planning Commission has essentially forced the Masonic entities to find another meeting location. Since the building is owned by the Pleasanton Masonic Center, these bodies pay rent for the use of the facilities and thus, by the forced relocation, would cause them to cease paying rent to the Pleasanton Masonic Center, thus making it financially infeasible for the Pleasanton Masonic Center to continue its operation. The Masonic Lodge and other Masonic bodies which meet in the building typically start their meetings at 7:30 PM., often with a meal preceding the meeting. While business meetings typically last until 9:00 PM or so, other special meetings may last until 10:30 PM or later. This is not an uncommon situation with all Masonic Lodges and affiliated bodies throughout California. It should be noted that these special meetings usually do not draw more than about 30 people per event and that, on average, there would be fewer than 4 such meetings per month over the course of a year. Because of these actions, The Board of Directors of the Pleasanton Masonic Center requests an appeal be granted regarding the aforementioned decision. i_o)ECE 11 V E ill JUL 07 2016 CITY CLERK OFFICE